Engineers and firefighters from the Iraqi Ministry of Oil have begun the process of trying to extinguish the burning oil wells around Qayara, set ablaze by the ISIS terrorists more than two months ago when the Iraqi Army entered the area.

Workers from the Iraqi North Oil Company on Thursday were trying to isolate a burning well on the outskirts of the town with bulldozers and diggers. They will then dig a well in which to divert the excess oil and they will inject a mixture of water, salt and cement into the wellhead to stop the fire.

Falah Hassan, the head of maintenance and industrial safety for the North Oil Company, said his company's workers couldn't start the process earlier because the area had been considered too dangerous. The black smoke from 18 burning wells has enveloped Qayara and the surrounding villages in noxious fumes for weeks.

ISIS militants routinely set fire to oil wells hoping to use the black smoke as cover from coalition aircraft strikes.

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